Then Come Back

 

/ the Lost Poems of Pablo Neruda
/ Never-before seen poems by Pablo Neruda from recently discovered manuscripts. Includes holographic copies, notes, and more.
/ Translation of introduction, prose, and notes by Lizzie Davis.
/ Actor Robert Picard reads a poem from The Lost NerudA

This Bloodaxe volume presents twenty-one recently discovered poems by Pablo Neruda under three guises: in the Spanish, as reproductions of their original, ephemeral compositions (on scraps of paper, musical programmes, menus), and as bold translations by the poet Forrest Gander. As Gander himself admits, he has been ‘caught several times in print saying, “The last thing we need is another Neruda translation.”’ However, upon encountering the manuscript ‘locked up like the Queen’s jewels’, it transpired that these lost poems were not only worthy of re-finding for scholarly or archival purposes, but complex, beautiful, ‘hilarious’ and ‘emotively forceful’ in their own right. The poems discuss writing, love of course, but also the moon landing or politics. Gander’s own poetic identity is given space - taking issue with interpretations by the Spanish editors; making a case for the ‘feral voice’ with which one returns to one’s own poetry after completing a translation project - in a volume which is all the stronger for it.
—Judges citation, Finalist for Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize

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“The breadth of his work is just outstanding… These new poems allow for the rediscovery of Neruda by a new generation… they are really quite delightful.”
— Maria Delgado, BBC's Radio Program, Free Thinking
 
 
Nancy Campana